The Silver Spoon

Just mention The Silver Spoon to The Italian and his eyes glaze over. It’s where it all began, he says, ‘It’ being his insatiable love of food and cooking. The Silver Spoon was first published in 1950, is one of the most popular cook books ever in Italy, and is considered the bible of Italian cooking. The Italian first started using his mother’s now well-worn copy when he was just a kid. It’s a weighty tome, literally, 1200 pages and 2000 traditional Italian recipes. While ingredients, quantities and methods have been updated to suit contemporary tastes, the essence of these ancient recipes has been preserved. They’re all written in a straightforward manner with easy to follow instructions. This is a book you’ll use, again and again and again. OK, it’s a cliché, but this really is the only Italian cookery book you’ll ever need.